Brandon Goode

Comm 250-01
July 17, 2014
Final Project
BYUIdaho Presentation Practice Center Organization Analysis
The Presentation Practice Center is a tutoring center on the campus of BYUIdaho. As a
tutoring center its main function is to provide quality tutors for students seeking help for any type
of presentation, talk, class, or discussion. The Presentation Practice Center is lead under the
supervision of its director Spencer Haacke. Mr. Haacke has been at the helm of this organization
since its conception in the fall semester of 2008.
All the tutors who work at the Presentation Practice Center love their job. They get to set
their own schedules as long as they post at least 10 hours of time per week for students to sign up
for tutoring appointments.
In addition to tutoring students, tutors are also organized into committees. These
committees are organized for helping the Presentation Practice Center grow in size, popularity,
recognition, and credibility. The tutors are primarily responsible for not only educating but
building the Presentation Practice Center to be better than it was when they first arrived.
Spencer Haacke treats all his tutors with fairness and understanding. There is not one
tutor working there who is not happy with his leadership or organization. This papers focus will
be on this organization. It will be paired with all the information we have learned in class this
semester. We will discuss its successes as well as areas where I feel they could improve.

Organizational Theories
The Presentation Practice Center is a cross between Humanistic Theory and Systems
Theory. The PPC runs very much as a system because it is constantly evolving and growing as
they transition through tutors and TAs at the begging of the semester.
Their system runs well, and at every semesters beginning there is an adaptation phase.
New tutors are hired, all tutors are reassigned into committee groups, and ideas and goals are
discussed and set for how the Presentation Practice Center could grow and become better within
this current semester. Not only does this happen at the beginning of the semester but there are
follow up meetings every other week where the effectiveness of the changes are discussed,
evaluated, and changed if necessary.
The Presentation Practice Center is also based on the humanistic Theory. Spencer Haacke
is very concerned about his tutors and how happy they are doing their job. At their biweekly
meetings he is consistently asking how their loads are and if there needs to be an adjustment in
any assignments to help anyone who might be feeling bogged down.
Additionally, the scheduling of hours is left completely up to the tutor and not to Spencer
Haacke. The only stipulation given to the tutors concerning their hours is that they are required to
post at least 10 hours per week. Beyond that there is no regulation. The tutor can post their hours
of availability all on one day or spaced evenly through the week. They can post the minimum or
the maximum of twenty hours, whatever would convenience them the most. Furthermore, if a
tutor has time posted and an appointment set, it is totally reasonable for a tutor to try and have
the appointment covered by another available tutor if a complication arises in their schedule.

The Presentation Practice Center also has a closing social at the end of every semester.
This social is a good cost of time and money for Spencer Haacke but he does it because he
knows that it improves the relationships and the moral of the tutors.
Barriers to Communication
There are 13 main barriers to communication that can affect an organization. Of these
thirteen I believe there are at least three that affect the Presentation Practice Center and the work
they try to accomplish.
Inadequate Receiving
This barrier is defined as, The tendency to send so many messages that a communicator
devotes inadequate time and energy to listening to the other person. As stated before, the tutors
at the Presentation Practice Center have the option to shift their appointments around and ask
other tutors to cover appointments as their schedules get complicated. While this tactic started as
a convenience it quickly became the rule.
Tutors started to receive text messages daily, and sometimes hourly, from tutors
needing appointments covered. While this issue will be discussed in further detail later I wish
to discuss the communication barrier. Because tutors are receiving so many texts everyday tutors
are starting to become complacent with how quickly they respond to these text or even at all.
There are so many messages being sent asking tutors to cover for other tutors that some dont
even really read their messages because there are too many to track.

Lack of Feedback
This barrier is defined as, Anything that keeps the sender from learning if the other has
received, acknowledged, or understood the message. Continuing with the above situation
because tutors are receiving too many messages the receivers arent responding. There are
instances in which a tutor will send out a text asking for a sub for an appointment and they will
receive no responses, neither yea nor nay.
Language Differences
Believe it or not there are in fact language differences in the Presentation Practice Center. This
barrier is defined as, the fact that the same words mean different things to different people. All
the tutors in the Presentation Practice Center are from different parts of the country, cultures, and
work styles. Sometimes what is communicated to the Presentation Practice Center as a whole is
understood very differently by each individual. For example, every tutor is expected to fill out a
survey at the end of every tutoring session describing how the appointment went and the attitude
of the student. When filling out the How did the appointment go overall? box, students fill this
out very differently. Some tutors give a complete synopsis of the occurrences of the meeting
while others simply give a generic response such as, This appointment went well. So-and-so
was well prepared.
All of the above barriers are vital to overcome if an organization wishes to succeed.
Simple measures such as setting up a regulation on how many appointments a tutor can try to
hand off in a month would greatly reduce the amount of text messages received and improve the
ability and desire of each tutor to process and respond to each request that comes through.

Organizational Communication
The organizational communication of the Presentation Practice Center is the best Ive
seen in an organization. The Communication truly is a collaborative one, looking something like
this:
Spencer
Haacke
PPC Director

PPC TA

Tutors

There are three organizations within the Presentation Practice Center. There is the
Director, the Student TA, and the Tutors. All three elements have total access to the other. The
Tutors communicate mostly with the Student TA but have the total freedom and opportunity to
communicate anything they want with Spencer Haacke. This type of communication has really
helped prevent the fallout you can see in organizations that function solely through Downward
Communication, Bottom Up Communication, or Lateral Communication.
The truth of the matter is that the Presentation Practice Centers communication style
envelops all the good of the three different styles of communication while eliminating almost all
of the bad. The only negative that I have seen from this style of communication is the overlap.
Occasionally one person will be told a message several times because all three elements will
communicate the same message.

Leadership in the Presentation Practice Center

There are four different styles of Leadership; Authoritarian, Democratic, Laissez-Faire,
and Situational. The Presentation Practice Center really only has one leader in the whole
organization, and that is its Director Spencer Haacke. The other possible leader is the Student
TA, but that position acts more as an assistant to Spencer Haacke opposed to having authority
over the other Tutors.
Spencer Haackes style of Leadership is totally Laissez-Faire combined with a little
Situational Leadership. Let me explain. When a tutor is hired they are told the structure of the
Presentation Practice Center and all of its ins and outs. They are told what is expected of them
as a tutor and then are left to it. Spencer Haacke is very hands off with just about everything he
asks the tutors to accomplish. Whether it comes to their committee, projects, or even their basic
responsibilities Spencer Haacke just trusts that the tutors will step up and accomplish what has
been asked of them.
I also mentioned that Spencer Haacke has a touch of Situational Leadership as well. This
means that he can read the situation at hand with great accuracy and decide which type of a
leader he needs to be in that moment. He is very good at assessing what the situation or the
problem at hand needs as far as his involvement goes.
If the situation is good and he believes all will be accomplished as it should, he sits back
and lets the Tutors work their magic. If there is a real problem such as the power going out or the
Tutor Track website going off line he is very Authoritarian in what he will have us do. In our
meetings he is very Democratic and wants the input of all the tutors who work at the center for a
solution to a problem they may be having. Over all the Leadership at the Presentation Practice

Center is very well handled and controlled. Because of this setup everyone who works at the
Presentation Practice Center feel valued, trusted, and that their ideas and opinions matter.
Organizational Conflict
As we discussed in class, conflict is a good thing. Without conflict you cant grow to your
fullest ability. As stated in the poem by Douglas Malloch:
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.

Contention is what brings anger and resentment. It is important for an organization to

learn to have conflict without contention. Conflicts and trials are the winds and storms of life.
They cause our roots to sink, our bark to thicken, and our branches to grow stronger. This is an
element that I feel the Presentation Practice Center is missing from its ranks.

The Presentation Practice Center is great at discussion. But there isnt a whole lot of
conflict. Whenever someone presents an idea it is usually met with open arms and acceptance.
Very rarely does a person present an idea and then have a 20 minute debate about whether this
idea will actually work.
I also feel this is why so many ideas and projects have fallen through the cracks and
halted exponential growth of the Presentation Practice Center. The original idea needed refining
but because the contention didnt come to refine it the project became hard and fell through the
cracks.
Solutions
Elder David A. Bednar taught, In order for any organization to succeed long term, they
must be able to do three things:
1. They have to be able to attract good employees.
2. Those employees must know what is expected of them.
3. Those employees must be motivated to go above and beyond what is expected of them.
If you have a company that is completely obedient to the letter of the law you will fail
maliciously.
This advice is so clear and profound I believe it would be foolish not to follow it within
any organization we are a part of.
I believe that the Presentation Practice Center however has not quite emulated these
steps. The first two of the three steps I believe have been accomplished. Every semester Spencer
Haacke has several students who have great skill and competency for public speaking and
motivating others that apply for positions at the Presentation Practice Center. This center draws

and attracts the talented and good employees that Elder Bednar spoke of. Secondly, when those
students are hired their responsibilities are clearly laid out and explained for them, so much so
that within a matter of days their responsibilities are completely known.
The element in which I believe it is failing is in the third section of Elder Bednars list,
Those employees must be motivated to go above and beyond what is expected of them.
Semester after semester I have seen Tutors who punch in, do their appointment, and punch out.
Semester after semester I have seen Committee goals and plans go unaccomplished and
unaccounted for.
If these tutors were more motivated to do more than just the basics required of them we
would see an exponential amount of growth to the Presentation Practice Center.
Motivating Growth
According to Kohlberg there are six stages of Morality. These stages do not describe a
persons behavior but they describe their motives for behavior. These stages are as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Punishment and Law

Self Interest
Personal Concordance
Law and Order
Social Contract
Universal Ethical Principals
Again, Kohlberg asserts that these stages are progressed through sequentially. You cannot

be motivated by Law and Order without having first been motivated by Self Interest.
The Presentation Practice Center will grow and develop in leaps and bounds if we can
find out at which stage each employee is at for doing their job. Do they do their job simply
because they are worried about punishment and law? In other words, do they do their job solely

because they are afraid to get fired? Or do they do their job so others will do their own jobs, and
so on through the motivators.
If we can motivate these students to live the law of Universal Ethical Principals you will
have employees unlike any other organization. The goals and ideals of the Presentation Practice
Center will be met and far surpassed.
There are four Motivation theories.
1. Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
This theory suggests that if you can find their need on Maslows Hierarchy you
will know how to motivate them. Example, students are usually just scraping by. If
you motivate them with grocery or fun money they will go the extra mile.
2. Skinners Behaviorism
Skinners theory states that any behavior that is recognized positively will be
repeated. So reward for a job well done. They will do it again and hopefully others
will follow suite.
3. Herzbergs Hygienes and Motivators
Herzbergs Hygiene motivators do not motivate you per say. But the lack of them
will demotivate you. Make sure you staff are comfortable in their work environment
so that work is a pleasant place to be.
4. McClellands Power, Affiliation, and Achievement
Last is McClelland. According to his theory you can motivate them with three
things; Power over others, Affiliation or connection with other people, and
Achievement or goal setting, including checking off these goal and
acknowledging the accomplishments.
All of these theories are useful and can really help the Presentation Practice Center rise to
the next level.

The Presentation Practice Center is a wonderful and outstanding organization. They truly
have the beginnings to become one of the greatest centers on the BYUIdaho campus. If they
will keep up the good work in what they are doing well and improve on the motivation and work
ethic of their employees they will rise to that vision and standard of excellence.